The Novel of A. Bitov “Armenia Lessons” as a genre of travel in the context of Russian prose of the second half of the XX-th century

Abstract

The article attempts to examine the main views about Armenia on the works of O. Mandelstam’s “Journey to Armenia” and the cycle “Armenia” and the novel by A. Bitov’s “Armenia Lessons”. However, the journey is considered as a genre of literature, the degree of influence of O. Mandelstam, A. Bitov, the similarities and differences in the work of writers and the place of the story “Armenia Lessons” in Russian prose of the second half of the twentieth century. The main objective of the study is to analyze the contribution of A. Bitov in the genre of travel and representation of the image of Armenia to Russian readers. The author of this work concludes that the basis of the story “Armenia Lessons” by A. Bitov are works about Armenia Osip Mandelstam. Writer rediscovers Armenia to the Russian reader and brings new features to this genre of literature, like a journey.